Praise be to Allah.
The basic principle is that anything that is used for adornment and beautification is permissible. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“He it is Who created for you all that is on earth” [Al-Baqarah 2:29]
That may be mustahabb if the intention is to beautify yourself for your husband, because this is something that is prescribed in sharee’ah.
But this is subject to the condition that nothing haram is involved, such as adorning yourself for non-mahram men to whom it is not permissible to show your beauty. It is also subject to the condition that it does not contain any substance that may harm the body or that is impure such as pig fat. In that case it is haram, because we are forbidden to do things that will harm us, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “there should be no harming or reciprocating harm.”
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said:
There is nothing wrong with using lipstick because the basic principle is that things are permissible until it is made clear that they are haram… But if it becomes clear that it is harmful to the lips, that it dries them out and makes them lose their moisture, then in this case it is not allowed. I have been told that it may cause the lips crack. If that is proven then we are forbidden to do things that harm us. Fatawa Manaar al-Islam, 3/831
Dr Wajeeh Zayn al-‘Aabideen wrote an article in al-Wa’i al-Islami magazine about the harm that the cosmetics which are widely used by women nowadays may cause. In this article he said:
Lipstick may cause swelling of the lips or drying and cracking of the thin skin of the lips, because it removes the protective layer of the lips.
Quoted from Zeenat al-Mar’ah al-Muslimah by Shaykh ‘Abd-Allah al-Fawzaan, p. 51
So Muslim women should make sure, before using any of the commonly-used cosmetics, that it will not cause any damage to her body.
And Allah knows best.
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